Pages

December 20, 2013

Transylvania and the Fae

Superstitions — there are so many out there, from not stepping on a crack to spilling salt.
Transylvania is sometimes called The Land of Superstition. Many people consider
Transylvania to be a mystical and magical land. There are so many beautiful natural
landscapes that make it appear magical to us in this day and age. Many of
us are used to seeing buildings and highways everywhere. Through modern times, Transylvania has been
able to maintain a lot of its natural landscapes. Beauty in nature can sometimes help to foster fairy myths, and one of the most commonly-held superstitions
in Transylvania revolves around the existence of the Fae.

The term Fae covers a lot of
species. It covers fairies, elves, trolls, sirens, goblins, phookas, elementals,
imps, and many others, and these are separated into two main factions: the light and the dark.
Each member of each species can usually choose which faction they join. Usually, the majority of members of a given species will follow either light or
dark, but there are always cases where one or two members of a species may choose
to live differently than the rest.

The Fae are the fairies of the
world. They are not much like the fairies we hear about today. The Fae of the
forests are nothing like Tinker Bell and her friends. They are tricky and
devious beings. They are immortal and
tend to get bored from time to time. They like to play games with humans in
villages that are near where the Fae live. These are the dark Fae. They are the
ones who trick people into eating and drinking Fae food, and once someone does
that, they can never go home again. The dark Fae are usually the ones who come
and switch human babies with their own Fae babies. Then again many of the light
Fae enjoy playing tricks on people as well. The dark Fae are a bit more
mean-spirited in their tricks than the light Fae. Humans are more likely to survive
a trick or prank played by a light Fae than by a dark Fae. One of the more mischievous
Fae species is the phooka. They like to destroy crops. If any part
of the harvest is left after Samhain (Halloween), then it belongs to the
phookas. The common belief is that if someone tried to harvest anything after Samhain, the phookas would
kill one of their cows.

Granted, not all of the Fae like to create
mischief. There are those who like to be left alone and to their own devices. These ones usually like to help nature in some way. These are commonly called the elves, nature fairies, elementals, water spirits and similar names. These Fae are mainly
interested in existing in harmony with nature and preserving nature for future
generations. The water spirits are one of the least seen Fae. They live in ponds and lakes, and they are
extremely shy creatures. They are like the
caretakers for the lakes and ponds. It is not likely for someone to see a water
spirit, but if you ever do, count yourself very lucky.